Social Networking & Teens

 Recently the conversation of allowing my 15 year old brother to float through the social networking world has come up at a family get together.  He feels he is old enough to have a non-monitored and no time limited     Facebook and Myspace account. My mother said he could have one if she could have his password and be his friend.  Well, Tyler was not thrilled but he gave in. Over time the Facebook friendship between my mother and brother has been a tested one. He does not like her making loving posts on his wall or putting personal status updates on her page.  I find it all entertaining to watch my brother fight for independence and my mother holding on to her baby, but really is daily social media involvement good for children?  What age do you feel is appropriate to allow your children on these sites? 

Retrevo.com’s latest Gadgetology study looks at parenting, technology, and social media.

Study Highlights

• 30% of parents think 13 – 15 years old is the right age to get a social media page
• 36% of parents think 16 – 18 is the right age to get a social media page
• 26% of parents say over 18 is the right age to get a social media page
• 8% of parents are okay with kids under 12 having a social media page
• 48% of parents on Facebook are “friends” with their kids. 52% are not.
• 29% of all parents don’t allow texting during family meals. 36% of parents of teenagers don’t allow texting during family meals.

BRAND FAN

A new Business.com study of 3,000 businesses showed that 83% of respondents named Facebook as their favorite social network to engage with customers. So, if businesses find Facebook the best option when jumping into social media, how much value does a Facebook fan hold?  

Well, according to two companies called Syncapse and Hotspex, the average value of a Facebook fan for the twenty largest corporate brands on Facebook is $136.38. Another company by the name of Vitrue said that a Facebook fan is worth $3.60 in earned media. The company developed this calculation based on impressions generated in the Facebook feed. Syncapse and Hotspex developed their value differently by looking at a series of attributes:

• Product Spending — Facebook fans spend, on average, $71.84 more than non-fans over a two-year period.
• Loyalty (meaning ability to influence and promote brand loyalty within a target audience) — Facebook fans are 28% more likely to continue using a brand than consumers who are not fans on Facebook.
• Propensity to Recommend — 68% of fans are “very likely” to recommend a product to family and friends (as opposed to 28% of non-fans).
• Brand Affinity — 81% of fans feel a connection to the brand (versus only 39% of non-fans).

So who is right? In my personal opinion any advocate of a brand is worth more than any dollar amount I can come up with. They are a producer of free media, WOM and brand loyalty. By offering an outlet such as Facebook for customers to voice their support and concerns for a brand displays the importance of the customer to the company’s success. So do you feel there is a $ value to a brand fan?

CSA 2010

Hope you are having a nice day! In my blog post today I thought I would discuss the changes that are coming up in my working world and how the web has influenced it all. I work in the Oil and Gas Industry, Reliable Environmental Transport is a trucking company that hauls Haz/Non-Haz waste from drilling sites to the proper disposal facilities.  Because,I work at a trucking company the Department of Transportation (DOT) is very important to our success.

The DOT set the regulations for our industry, letting us know what can and cannot be done in regards to driving and over all safety. Recently,  the Federal DOT has implemented a new program called CSA2010. 

 The Comprehensive Safety Analysis Program is all viral, tracking every CDL driver on the road. Anytime they have a DOT inspection no matter the outcome it is posted with their name and all details pertaining to the inspection.  

The website is very interactive, in real time and also an educational tool.  It will keep us up to date on all new regulations or changes given to the program over its first year. As a professional in this industry I feel this is a great advancement, holding all drivers accountable for their actions and letting their company know what they are doing on the road.  I have attached a picture of the interactive site and also some link to informative pages on CSA2010.

I Will Work for You!

Hello All, I have been missing for a few days and I apologize. I have to say, the balancing act of life can take a toll on the ones sprit. My only refuge is knowing that my first year of Graduate School will be coming to a close in the next three weeks. I am looking forward to taking the 5 glorious weeks off to remember who I was pre-higher education. In reflecting on what I want my life to be like after I am done in December, I was thinking of what I would do if I moved on from my present job as the Marketing and Compliance Manager at Reliable Environmental Transport.  

I love Facebook, Twitter, reading blogs and writing blogs. Why not make it my job!? As the world of social media is ever expanding so is the job market. I recently have seen MTV running a contest for the next Twitter J. MTV is taking the old school VJ (video disc-jockey) and putting emerging media twist on it. The position would offer an impressive $100,000 a year and put you in contact with all emerging stars and artist in the music industry, keeping a constant feed of your experience via Twitter. This sounds like a fun job that I would not mind to wake up and go to everyday. MTV is not the only company taking notice of the need for social media managers. Ford, Southwest airlines and Best Buy are just a few who understand the important need for constant public involvement with their brand. 

“In the past, public affairs (social media planers) were brought in at the end,” said Alex Hultgren, Ford’s digital-media manager. Now, “I talk to people in public affairs daily, where it used to be monthly.”

Southwest airline has used members of the flight-crew to blog about their flights and top news stories. They also encourage the staff to post videos and pictures of their experience with the airline. Best Buy has taken customer service to a new level. Retailer’s employees sign up to field customer tweets and respond to service questions or requests for recommendations. Any employee can sign up, but all are subject to company-wide protocol and guidelines. Best Buy did not respond to multiple calls and e-mails for comment.

Taking their customer interactions viral has helped their companies up their website views, brand recognition and loyalty. Keeping the line of communication open is key to successful businesses.

A social media manager job might not be dreaming!

The Eyes of a Child

When doing an Internet search for a corporate Web site targeted specifically at young children I came across many, but non that do it as well as Disney. Looking at the Disney Channel website through a childs eyes you are pulled in by the bright colors and fun game offers.

 In my post I am going to describe the efforts of the DC to market to children by the way they lay out their website to what games are offered.

The Disney Channel website has a lot of depth and color. The background of the page is a faded blue with what looks to be bubbles floating around throughout the page. There are many navigation tools available for each specific show the channel has running.

The top of the homepage displays the main tool bar listing all the fun things to do on the site, such as games, music, characters and even a place for fans to make a Disney channel profile. Below the tool bar is a moving bright yellow banner advertising all the Stars of DC also new show information. To the right of the moving banner is more links to watch videos, play games, and more.

As a visitor moves down the page they will be informed of “What’s on tonight” be able to watch the trailers for upcoming shows and find what Disney has in stores now. This site is easy to navigate and would be very appealing to 9year olds and up. Kids that visit the site can play a lot of games, keep up with the Disney Stars and find items that they may want to bring home. 

The idea of the site is to let them play a snip of the game or see parts of the movie so they will ask their parent to purchases the item for them. I don’t see anything ethically wrong in doing this. Perfume advertisements let us try the product before we purchases it with their magazine advertisements.

The Disney Channel site is doing a great job promoting their brands and products they represent. The site provides many opportunities for the visitor to get involved in the brand. This site did not promote any specific activity but Disney dose aim to project a sense of community and responsibility. The shows in some cases teach social responsibility by helping in the home and community. The Disney mission statement is “Make people happy” pretty simple and I think they are succeeding.  

http://home.disney.go.com/tv/

Bp did What?

This week I have been taking a look at how companies are using emerging media to deal with publicity, good or bad… Of course when I thought of press the BP issues came to mind. People have strong feelings about how BP, government and the general public should be reacting to the spill and these opinions fill the web world. 

When dealing with the PR mess that is the largest oil spill in American history, British Petroleum has used every medium possible to combat the valid negative responses. The PR department has to describe what is going on accurately and honestly. Ad Age writer Josh Bernoff said “Any attempts to spin are pointless and will only backfire on BP”. BP started their PR blitz with “sponsoring” ad links up to a worth of $10,000 a day on all the major search engines for any keyword terms related to the spill (Watkins,2010).

BP has also created an entire page and website dedicated to spill response information for each affected state. These sites hold links to the LIVE video feed of ROV footage, videos of responders and BP representatives, the BP flicker.com account, and links to all of their social networking sites including the official BP Twitter page.

BPs first Twitter response to the spill took place in April 29, 2010 at 7:00pm for their 14,380 followers and the rest of the world to see. BP makes the statement that their Twitter page is available to provide updates of the ongoing response efforts. These efforts are provided by their social media team as well as their on the ground personnel working in the affected gulf regions (BP/twitter,2010). The site goes on to say that the page is being utilized as a direct link between the world and their CEO Toney Hayward.

The conversation about the spill has taken off on the web and the negative effects it is having on the BP image are enormous. I found it very interesting that the leading medium for this conversation is twitter, beating out the daily news and bloggers. Do you feel that using these emerging mediums take away from the relevance of the information provided or that it adds sincerity that would not be as present if it were presented in a press release?

LIVE AID: No need to leave home to find a professional mentor

As I have been exploring emerging media I have come across a lot of tools to better myself as a professional. In college I was all about finding “strategic mentors” that would help me get to where I wanted to be in my future career. I was full force when it came to creating great relationships with professionals in my area, learning and working with these professionals for the better part of my higher educational journey. Now, that I have entered the work force I feel I have slacked at continuing to build and maintain these types of career inspiring associations. This is due to many factors, l lack the flexibility an undergraduate student unknowingly has, I wanted to focus on my job and I lack the time I would like to invest in these types of relationships.

           With all of these obstacles I have turned to emerging media, seeking out individuals who are successful and inspiring. I connect with their stories through blogs, webinars, e-mail news letters, Facebook and any other emerging outlet available to me. Though they may not be as influential as a face to face interaction it is a step in the right direction.

   Coming from a generation that has so many tools at their fingertips I have learned that if we choose to utilize them we can continue to grow and better ourselves. People in the past did not have the opportunity to learn from others life experiences as freely as we do today. New professionals are not limited to their friends and families advice, they can listen and talk with people who are a success in the present time and understand the present challenges.

Yes, we are bombarded with constant distraction but if users can focuses on using these mediums for more than telling people what they are doing or checking up on people they have not talk to in years Emerging Media can change the way we learn and interact with one another more than it already has. I have posted a few links to some blogs and sites I like to visit hope you enjoy them!

  

Late Night Type

 

 

 

                                         who needs sleep?

   Hello, it is 11:00pm, my eyes are crossing and I can hardly continue, but I push on.  All of my momentary ailments are due to the fact I have been looking at my computer since 8am plus or minus an hour or two. When thinking about how emerging media contributes to my over exposure, I do believe it is the culprit of the entire 15 hour use.  The computer has created so many new ways to communicate and it is all consuming due to its accessibility. For a portion of my post I will give a little incite to this ongoing relationship with my computer screen:

8:00am: Log on at work and check first company E-mail: Respond

9:00am: Move on to second work E-mail: Respond

10:00am: Get a cup of coffee

10:15am: Log on to ISNetworld Check Industry Updates and work with meeting client requirements

11:30am: Update Social Media Page for company

11:45: Check analytics page for Company Website and Company Social media Site

 This continues until 5pm then I go home, eat, and get back onto the computer for a few hours writing my blog , working on my Masters requirements for the week and avoiding my homework by browsing Facebook for way to long.  Do you remember what we did prior to the use of Twitter, Facebook, E-mail and every other communication medium on the web and cell phones???  I don’t but that’s because I have just turned 23 and have had these “wonderful” mediums since I can remember.   Imagine being the next generation (ages 10-15) that have had cell phones since they were old enough to speak.  The world would freak out if technology had to be laid down for 2 days let alone a week!

With this over exposure that consumers such as me experience everyday, companies have to find more convenient ways to reach their potential clients.  Utilizing mediums that customers will visit in their leisure time is one of the best routes to go. The company won’t be intruding or taking away from time that is not dedicated to browsing the web for shoes.  The consumer may be more open to receiving the message because they are not in a rush or occupied with getting back to something more important. So if everything is so convenient now, how do markets expand upon the convenience even more? What a challenge we face fellow marketing professionals!  Its is now 11:46pm so I think it is time to say Good night computer screen I will see you bright and early tomorrow morning!

Fun Theory

 Hello All!

I hope you are having a nice day and getting to enjoy some sunlight. I have been in my office most of the day soaking up the rays from my window. In the few free minuets my boss graciously gives me I enjoyed a little web browsing. I came across a cause marketing campaign developed by VW back in 2009 that caught my eye and put a smile on my face. It was based on the Green initiative, that majority of the world is now participating in.

Volkswagen wanted to prove that marketing a brand doesn’t mean always promoting its products and performance; it can be standing for a cause and living a life that is a reflection of the cause. They also proved that a costly TV commercial is not always the best way to leave an impression. I have to give it to Volkswagen; we all know it’s harder to live “GREEN” than it is to talk about it. (at least it is for me)

So what did Volkswagen do? The marketing team transformed a stairway in a Sweden train station into an interactive keyboard beside an escalator in hopes more people would take the stairs. Volkswagen believes that the easiest way to change people’s behavior for the better is by making it fun to do. They called it ‘The Fun Theory’ needless to say it worked and 66% more people chose to take the stairway over the escalator!

So how does this relate to emerging media? Well it’s not real until it is on the web! Volkswagen posted their Fun Theory’s on YouTube and they took off, in 4 days this one effort received 1.4 million views. At the end of the video a VW log comes onto the screen making the brand placement low-key but impressionable. Even though the videos did not show VW cars driving down the road it pushed the VW logo all around the web for tens of thousands of people to pass around. These efforts show that the company is up to date and has the know how to leverage social media to their advantage. Also, paring their brand with a cause produces a positive association with the brand. Volkswagen hit a home run in using emerging media to get their fresh marketing efforts out into the world. I have provided a few of the videos, let me know what you think!

SHARING

 From the days of pre-school we have all been taught to share. We had to share with our friends, siblings or the neighbors kid that we didn’t really like or know.  Giving to and taking from others is part of life and it’s become more engrained into our culture every day.  We no longer share our feelings, agendas and life stories with just close friends and relatives but with everyone who can search your name on Google.  The new forms of communication that surround us are affecting not only the way we communicate on a personal level but also in our professional world.

Many companies have to dot their I’s and cross their T’s with a little more tact than in the past. Not because it matters more to do the right thing than it did in the past, it’s just now everyone is always watching and always typing, talking and recording. The best way for industries to handle this change is to become a part of it. Looking for opportunities to give their information and providing consumers with the chance to reiterate the mission of the brand, can produce big opportunities.

 Sharing challenges and triumphs is an honest and strong way to create brand loyalty, letting people learn the history and development of a brand in real-time builds a connection.

    Sharing is not a new phenomenon; only the infrastructure to facilitate sharing has changed. Some marketers create content for social media that encourages interaction. In practice, mar­keters must target an evolving audience with their brands. The increasingly complex audi­ence, coupled with converging media, work in tandem to render traditional marketing strate­gies obsolete.

Chris Barrows points out that we will continue to share and communicate, the only change will be the medium used. What do you use the most to get your personal message out? Do you feel this medium is a good representation of who you are?